>>> Saying it is key might be stretching it. There was study done once, I wish I still had it, that talked about backwards rotation and how it carried up through the bat. The hitting sequence starts with trunk coil. This trunk coil goes up through the body to the tip of the bat. There are two things that happen during the launch position, or attaining the launch position. One is for trunk coil to take place and the other is for the hips/body to travel in a linear fashion.

What happens is this trunk coil and linear movement is suddenly changed as rotation begins. What this does is create a change of direction, seen in the launch position or while attaining the launch position. It's a point in the swing when the hitter goes from load to unload. Now, you can have a good swing without an obvious change of direction, but with many of the good hitters this change of direction is rather obvious and easy to see. Compared to most amatuer hitters the change of direction is not present.

I'll to explain it further if you want. What teacherman is saying is the hips are like the handle of the whip. They are the first segment to change direction, prior to the upperbody. It's like Ted said the hips lead the hands. <<<

Hi Shawn

How does what you describe above differ from what has long been held to be true with rotational transfer mechanics? I think we have all agreed that there is a counter rotation of the body during the in-ward turn and loading process. We have agreed that there may be a forward movement of the body during the stride but this forward movement ceases before the swing is initiated and the body rotates around a stationary axis. We have all agreed that the hips rotate 30 or so degrees ahead of shoulder rotation.

And finally, Absolute #9 states, “They will all have the lead-shoulder pulling back toward the catcher (un-shrugging the lead-shoulder) to the 105 degree position at contact. This is to generate BHT and the “Hook” in the hand-path to maximize bat speed.” – Shawn, I fail to see why calling these principles a “change in body direction” explains anything different than what has been previously defined.

We are running this thread off the page. I will continue it as a new thread.